First suspected coronavirus case reported in SLO County
By Nick Wilson and
Matt Fountain
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San Luis Obispo County health officials say the test results for the resident suspected of having coronavirus have returned negative.
Update, 4:36 p.m.
Twin Cities Community Hospital in Templeton has constructed screening tents and has trained professionals and “the necessary equipment to react accordingly,” as hospital officials monitor information from federal, state and local public health agencies for current information on the coronavirus, Tenet Health Central Coast said in a statement.
“As with any communicable disease, as our patients enter the hospital in areas such as emergency department or registration, hospital staff are questioning all of their recent travel and detailing symptoms,” Tenet Health Central Coast said. “We evaluate relevant symptom criteria and implement contact airborne isolation, if required, without delay.”
“Our clinical teams are in constant review of infection prevention processes and update patient screenings as recommended by the CDC,” the statement read.
Update, 4:13 p.m.
San Luis Obispo County health officials expect to receive test results this weekend to determine if a local resident has contracted coronavirus.
Out of “an abundance of caution,” health officials collected a specimen from a patient “for whom we had (and continue to have) a low suspicion of COVID-19 illness,” county health officer Penny Borenstein said in a news release Thursday.
The unidentified patient, who had mild symptoms, had come in “contact with travelers from an area with widespread transmission of COVID-19” who were also mildly ill, the release said.
“The patient has fully cooperated with home isolation and daily monitoring from Public Health staff,” the agency said. “The patient has now fully recovered and none of the patient’s contacts have symptoms.”
Within the next two days, the county’s Public Health Department Laboratory is expected to be capable of coronavirus testing, according to the release.
“The risk to the general public at this moment remains low,” Borenstein said. “We assure the public that we will notify our residents if and when we do have a confirmed case in our county.”
Original story:
San Luis Obispo County public health officials have screened a local patient for exposure to coronavirus, the department confirmed Thursday.
The county Public Health Department is sending biological samples to a state laboratory in Richmond, because the patient met federal Centers for Disease Control (CDC) criteria for coronavirus testing, according to Rick Rosen, the county’s deputy health officer.
Rosen said the county has been screening patients who have traveled to countries with confirmed cases of COVID-19 or who are suspected to have been exposed to the disease.
“We wouldn’t know for at least 48 hours if the test comes back negative,” Rosen said. “If it comes back positive, then it will be sent to the CDC for confirmation.”
Rosen said that San Luis Obispo County isn’t releasing information on the local community where the patient lives, or where that person has been treated.
Were Twin Cities hospital patients tested for coronavirus?
On Thursday, a source close to the situation told The Tribune that two patients at Twin Cities Community Hospital in Templeton were tested for coronavirus.
The source said that the patients had upper respiratory illness and doctors ordered treatments that have not been effective in reducing symptoms, which are consistent with coronavirus.
A communications specialist for Tenet Health Central Coast, which operates Twin Cities Community Hospital, declined to comment and referred all questions to the county Public Health Department.
In a statement sent Thursday, Tenet Health Central Coast said it’s “monitoring information from federal, state and local public health agencies” about coronavirus.
“As with many possible communicable diseases, as our patients enter the hospital, in areas such as emergency department or registration, hospital staff are asking questions on recent travel and symptoms,” the statement said. “We provide masks to any patients meeting relevant symptom criteria and implement contact airborne isolation without delay. Our clinical teams regularly review infection prevention processes and will update patient screenings as recommended by the CDC.”
Rosen was only able to confirm one case being tested locally but said it’s possible there are others.
He said that the county has been carefully monitoring people who have traveled to countries of concern — including China, Iran, Italy, South Korea and Japan — within the past 14 days.
County health officials also screen people who believe they’ve been exposed in communities in the United States where coronavirus cases have been confirmed, such as Seattle, Rosen said.
In the case of the San Luis Obispo County patient tested for coronavirus, “I’m not sure what type of exposure the person may have had,” Rosen said.
The CDC says it’s possible to catch the disease COVID-19 by touching something that has the virus on it, and then touching your own face, “but this is not thought to be the main way the virus spreads.”
Symptoms of the virus that causes COVID-19 include fever, cough and shortness of breath, which may occur two days to two weeks after exposure. Most develop only mild symptoms, but some people develop more severe symptoms, including pneumonia, which can be fatal. The disease is especially dangerous to the elderly and others with weaker immune systems.
So far, close to 100,000 cases have been reported worldwide, with about 3,300 deaths, the vast majority of them in China.
In the U.S.,162 cases have been reported, including 10 deaths in Washington state out of 32 reported cases. In California, the first death was reported Wednesday, with 53 positive tests reported.
A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) illustration shows “ultrastructural morphology” exhibited by coronaviruses. A novel coronavirus was identified as the cause of an outbreak of respiratory illness first detected in Wuhan, China in 2019. The illness caused by the virus has been named coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Courtesy CDC
SLO County’s response to COVID-19 outbreak
Rosen said the San Luis Obispo Public Health Department has had to upgrade its phone system to handle all of the calls coming about potential coronavirus exposure.
“The County of San Luis Obispo Public Health Lab has requested and is expecting to receive test kits for (coronavirus),” Rosen said Thursday. “Once we receive those test kits, testing will be performed locally. Positive test results must then be confirmed by the CDC.”
The department expects to receive equipment “very soon,” Rosen said.
Rosen said that local patients who have experienced severe respiratory symptoms are placed in respiratory isolation at a local hospital. That’s the protocol for the flu and illnesses other than suspected COVID-19, he said.
“If someone doesn’t meet the criteria for the CDC’s (coronavirus) screening, but they’re facing symptoms at the hospital, it’s possible to get tested, but it’s much harder to get the blessing of the CDC,” Rosen said.
CDC test screening criteria includes travel to areas of concern or confirmed coronavirus case exposure within 14 days in addition to respiratory symptoms, Rosen said.
This story was originally published March 5, 2020 at 11:48 AM.
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